I am have been craving
falafel. It is not like an anticipated hunkering for pizza, which was the
foundation of my juvenile food pyramid. I do not remember having falafel until
I was eighteen on my first big adventure. It had to be the messaging I got for
watching the Israeli prime minister address Congress in the weeks leading up his
national election, and all the post election analysis. I have always been fond
of the foods and flavors of the Middle East, and made regular forays into Brooklyn to sample mezze plates of Syrian, Lebanese
and Egyptian restaurateurs who set up in the borough.
I was raised to be a
Zionist (what a disappointment I turned out to be), and every year the
synagogue we affiliated with held an annual drive to plant trees in Israel – I
still don’t understand that one. And, the Passover Haggadah, which celebrates
liberation and freedom closed with the proclamation, “Next year in Israel.” I
was well schooled in our ancient, and more recent history, and living in the
New York area it was frequently impressed upon me that our people are only
about 3% of US population. So, we are in fact a minority, and should therefore
embrace all the other minorities that made up the US. Isn’t there strength in
numbers?
I always viewed the people
of the Muslim faith as a first cousin. Our stories started in the same part of
the world; the opening chapters of our scared books share a plot line until
that horrid family dinner when two brothers quarreled. Never again has the
family sat together to break bread. Yet, as I have dined in restaurants and in
friend’s homes of various Middle Eastern backgrounds there is great commonality
to the meal. I could not trace back when my family followed the diaspora out of
the Middle East into northern Europe, and subsequently the US but the mezze
table, in my own family, can be seen in the array of pickles, chilled radishes
and celery stalks along with chopped liver that ran down the length of our
dining room table. Dinner at an Assyrian friend’s the table was crowded with
herbs, cubed feta, pickled beets amongst other nibbles that I immediately
understand. You may go into a church, mosque, temple or dance rhythmically to
the changes of the seasons in order to connect to an idea greater than
ourselves. We can all recognize the divinity in the labor and love in a meal
laid out, and offer up. Perhaps, it is time we started going to dinner together
again and talk just of the quality of the pita bread; the creamy, smokiness of
the hummus or, the magical lift a bit of anise hyssop adds to a za’atar
blend.
As the vernal equinox
descends lets celebration more than the liberation from winter’s grip but that
fact we are one people in a multitude of incarnations with a hunger to feed our
souls and our families. Invited a cousin
to dinner this season.
Falafel – yeilds
12pieces
1-cup dried chickpeas
1-teaspoon ground cumin
1-teaspoon ground coriander
½-teaspoon ground anise seed
1-teaspoon ground black pepper
3 scallions – roughly chopped
½-cup cilantro – roughly chopped
1-tablespoon salt
¼-cup chickpea flour
1½-cup oil for frying
Soak the chickpeas in 4-cups of
water for 14 to 16 hours, at room temperature.
Drain the chickpeas through a
sieve, and then rinse the chickpeas. Transfer the soaked chickpeas to the bowl
of a food process, fitted with the steel blade. Add the cumin, coriander, anise
seed, black pepper, scallions, garlic cloves, cilantro and salt.
Process the chickpea mixture until
well brokendown, not so much so that it becomes a creamy, smooth paste.
Transefer the chickpea mixture to a
work bowl and incorporatre the chickpea flour. Let the mixture rest at room
temperature for an hour or two.
Form the chickpea mixture into 12
balls, which will be slighlty smaller then a golf ball.
Heat the oil in a wok to 325
degrees. If you don’t have a candy/frying thermometer use the dool end of a
wooden spoon – inserted in the heat oil the oil will immediately start to
bubble around it.
Gently place 6 of the falafels into
the oil, and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes, until crisp and dark golden. Remove
to paper line plate to drain. Fry the remaining 6 falafels. Serve warm with pita bread and Tahini Sauce.